is that he flew B-24s in WWII, not B-17s. He rose in rank to be a wing commander. His men loved him. I remember reading a story about the time of his death that told a great deal about what kind of man Jimmy Stewart was. After flying several combat missions, he was ordered to fly the squadron formation plane. That was a worn out plane plained in wild colors that the other planes used to establish their formations after takeoff. Once everyone was in place, the formation plane would return to base and land. It wasn't even armed. I guess the brass didn't want to take a chance on such a famous man being lost on a mission. Anyway, the story was that Jimmy believed he couldn't face his men if he didn't fly the missions, so he went ahead and led his squadron all the way to the target despite being unarmed.

Here's a good article about his wartime service written by a man who worked with him.

Jimmy Stewart was a highly decorated combat pilot. You're right, he did stay in the reserves and rose to the rank of Brig. General. We may never see his kind again.

I agree, "No Highway in the Sky" really sucked. "Spirit of St. Louis" was excellent even though Stewart was way too old for the part. "Flight of the Phoenix" was also very good. He also starred in Strategic Air Command, a pretty good movie featuring B-36s and B-47s.